


Honor of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

by mcepl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Family, Family History, Gen, Honor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcepl/pseuds/mcepl
Summary: Harry needs to talk with Kreacher before his marriage about the family values.





	Honor of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

**Author's Note:**

> Happens sometime after the story of “[Inner Daemons](https://archiveofourown.org/works/601124/)”, which is sometime in the second half of January 2001; that book is very well written, but it is completely unsuitable to minors for a lot of graphic description of violence, detailed description of major depression, and yes, plenty of sex.

“Kreacher!”

The ancient house elf turned up on the threshold of the room.

“Did Master call me?”

“Yes, Kreacher, I need to talk with you.”

“Kreacher is listening, Master!”

“First of all, I just want to thank you again for all you did for Mrs. Malfoy in the last months, you did an excellent job!”

“Kreacher is happy to serve Miss Cissy.”

“And you did it well. However, I need to talk with you also about something else. First of all, I forbid you in the most strict manner to punish yourself for the next half hour. Under any circumstances, whatever you do or say, you are not allowed to punish yourself!”

“But, Master, …”, Kreacher was obviously confused, “what should Kreacher do if he forgets himself and starts to punish himself? How can Kreacher punish himself for not following ban on punishing himself?”

“Don’t worry about it, Kreacher, if something like that happens, then **I will** punish you myself.”

“Master, but you know that the elvish magic works the best when it is feeding on the fear of punishment, don’t you? Kreacher is afraid that he won’t be able to serve his Master to his best as it is fitting for the heir of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.”

“Don’t worry about that either, I won’t ask you to do any extraordinary magic. I really just need to talk with you.”

“Kreacher is listening.”

“Do you remember Miss Ginny Weasley?”

“Daughter of the blood traitors Arthur and Molly Weasley …”, his face got confused again.

“Yes, I have forbidden you to use the term, right? I will forgive you know, no punishment is needed.

However, she is exactly who I want to talk with you about. I like her very much, I asked her to marry me and be my wife, and she agreed.”

“Kreacher congratulates you on such a splendid occasion! Kreacher is certain she will make you very happy.” He almost squeaked with happiness.

“Thank you, Kreacher, yes, she certainly will. However, it means that in a couple of weeks, most a month or so, she will be my wife. And that also means, that she will also be your new Mistress.”

“Kreacher will honourably serve my new Mistress then.”

“However, Kreacher, did not you just say that she is from a family of blood traitors? You will gladly serve even people like that?”

“Kreacher’s first duty is to server Master and Mistress of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, his opinion on them is not important. Well, it’s a pity I am not allowed to punish myself to think so badly about my future Mistress.” His face was actually rather sad.

“That is exactly why I have forbidden you to punish yourself.

However, I will not save you from expressing your opinion. Kreacher, I order you,” he tried to sound as stern as possible, “I order you to think and then tell me, why do _you_ think there is anything wrong with somebody supporting Muggles, Muggleborns and their children? Why do you think it is wrong not to be ashamed of Muggles in one’s family tree?”

Kreacher got really uncomfortable with the order to think for himself.

“Master, Kreacher is not supposed to think! Elves are told what to think by their masters!”

“Kreacher, but that is not exactly true, is it? When your Master was my godfather Sirius Black, you had many opinions which were not exactly the same as his, didn’t you?”

Kreacher showed even more confusion, but a bit of hope as well.

“Master, does it mean that you will finally allow Kreacher to punish himself?”

“I will most definitively not! You see, there is nothing wrong with you having your own opinion.”

Kreacher started to cry out of his sheer confusion.

“No, Kreacher, there really isn’t. I actually did find The Code of Conduct of Elves of the Black family. There is a lot about manner how elves are supposed to work, how they should behave, how they should represent the family, but there is not a single line saying what they should think. Although, strictly speaking, you probably were breaching the code. Being rude to guests of the Black family is just wrong,” a spark of hope showed up in Kreacher’s eyes, “but still I will not allow you to punish yourself, because there are too many mitigating circumstances.” Kreacher’s face was bleak again.

“You were here locked up alone for many years and only with that crazy picture of Sirius’ mother.”

“The most noble Mistress Walburga Black was not crazy!”

“Kreacher, I was talking about the picture we removed last year, not about herself. Even the magical pictures are not the same as the people on them. It does matter what the wizard creating the picture meant to be in it. For example here, although I don’t think I would agree with Mrs. Black on almost any topic, she was certainly a lady who cared a lot about pretences, and I cannot imagine she would shout insults on guests of the Black family without some reason.

So, when we established that you actually have your own opinion and it is right for you to have them …” Kreacher’s face was torn between depression and rebellion, “we can get back to my original question you still haven’t answered. What is wrong with people who like Muggles and who admit having Muggles in their family tree? Mind you, my mother was Muggleborn.”

Kreacher was silent.

“Kreacher, I order you to answer me!”

Kreacher started to cry, deeply and desperately. He completely collapsed on his chair and got lost in his sobs.

“Kreacher, that won’t work. I really want to hear what you think, even if you offend my mother. Put yourself together, and please answer me!”

After some hiccuping and using a rather disgusting dust cloth as a handkerchief, Kreacher made himself sitting on the chair in a proper position, and he was now thinking hard what to say. After some time he finally looked up to Harry. His eyes were shining with resolve. He will just say it!

“But, Master, it is actually the family motto of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. _Toujours pur_ , Always Pure.”

“Thank you, Kreacher, that was a lot of a very good thinking. So, please, what does that motto actually mean? What does it say about my mother or the Weasley family? Remember, you can say now whatever you really think.”

“Kreacher is confused. It certainly means that the Black family should be always only pureblood wizards, and should reject anybody who thinks otherwise, and consider them less than themselves, doesn’t it?”

“Kreacher, do you know which member of the Black family got the title of nobility and this motto from the King and why?”

“Of course, the most noble Master Betelgeuse Black got the title of nobility in 1353!”

“And do you know why?”

Kreacher’s face and confusion on it showed he doesn’t.

“I asked my friend Hermione to find out. Have you heard about the Black Death? No, it has nothing to do with our family.

It was a horrible outbreak of plague in the whole Europe then. The death toll was smaller in England than elsewhere in Europe, but it still killed almost one in five people here.

Reactions of the wizarding community to the plague were varied. Wizards themselves were not affected, because we had already then a potion which cures plague in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the potion uses magical power of a patient to kill all plague bacteria, so it is completely useless for Muggles. Some wizards, rumours go around, for example, about Nicholas Malfoy, used the opportunity and killed a lot of Muggles, stole their land, and pretended that those tenants died from plague. Some families in that time got exceptionally rich.

Other wizards tried to help Muggles as much as they could. There was no real cure, but still wizards had plenty of potions to at least alleviate pain, and help sick to die in a more dignified way, but good care, cleaning of boils actually helped many people to overcome their disease on their own.

Nobody did more for the victims of the plague than exactly Betelgeuse Black. He was a very rich landowner in the Southern England, and he decided to help as much as he could. He ordered and paid for building of five hospitals around England and Scotland, staffed them, all out of his money. He and members of his family worked, themselves, in those hospitals.

So, while some families got awfully rich, Blacks’ fortune got a hit which it never really recovered from. We are not exactly poor, but comparing to Malfoys who used to have manor houses and castles all around the Europe, before it was all confiscated from Lucius Malfoy, Blacks have only this town house.

It was still a couple of centuries before International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, so wizards and witches from the Black family openly used charms and potions to help the sick. In the end, unfortunately, Betelgeuse himself met among the hospital patients somebody who was not sick with plague but with Dragon Pox and got infected. His body worn down by many sleepless nights was not able to resist the sickness and he died in a couple of days.”

Kreacher was now crying openly, but he still managed to shriek from his sobs:

“That was a great Master! Kreacher is so proud to serve his heirs.”

“Yes, he was, and yes, I am proud to be his heir as well. One Muggle book 1 says that ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’ and that is exactly what he did.

His sacrifice and care for others did not go unnoticed and the king elevated him and his heirs to the rank of nobility just couple of days before he died. He selected ‘ _Toujours pur_ ’ as his family motto to promise that his family will always choose to act on pure motives rather than to be selfish. And that is the meaning of the family motto of the House of Black.”

Kreacher was sitting on his chair, thinking again.

“But, Master, that means …”, long pause.

“Yes, Kreacher?”

“But that means, …” his eyes were as large as a saucer, “… that means, the family motto has nothing to do with the purity of blood!”

“Exactly!”

Now Kreacher was really silent.

* * *

However, Harry has not finished yet.

“Kreacher, do you remember Dobby?”

“Kreacher remembers Dobby. Dobby was a strange elf. Kreacher did not like him at first, with him being proud of being sacked by his masters, asking for salary, and other things completely inappropriate for a good house elf. However, in the end, even though he did not have to be, he was very loyal to my Master, so he was not a bad elf, I guess.”

His face was again very uncertain, obviously speaking his mind was still treacherous ground for him. Harry noticed.

“Kreacher, that was an excellent piece of thinking. Very good!

Do you know what happened to him?”

“Kreacher does not know, but Kreacher has not heard about him for a long time, so Kreacher is worried. What happened?”

“He died, Kreacher, when fighting against the people who served The Dark Lord, in the same struggle as your previous Master Regulus Black. And he saved my life and lives of my friends when we were about be killed by awful servants of The Dark Lord.” Mentioning that the awful servant was actually “Miss Bella” would be probably too much for Kreacher.

“Dobby saved the life of Master Harry?”

“Yes, he did and he lost his life while doing so.” Now Harry had to stop for a moment, because his throat became somehow squeezed.

Now Kreacher was really touched.

“That is the most noble death for an elf, to die saving his Master. And Kreacher knows that Dobby considered Master Harry to be his Master as well, although he did not have to.” He was obviously quite impressed.

* * *

However, Harry still has not finished yet.

“Kreacher, I have actually never asked you what happened when that Death Eater came to Grimmauld Place. What happened?”

“Kreacher was scared, but Kreacher knew what Master ordered him to do. That man came to the front door and Kreacher did not know at first what kind of man he is. So, Kreacher sneaked slowly to the doors to the entry hall to see him. It was very obvious the man was confused. He was staying, wand drawn and was very upset. He was hit by some protective curse, so he cannot say anything, but he was waving with his wand around himself. Then the scary ghost of Professor Dumbledore came and he actually started to shoot at it. Kreacher knew immediately that this is a bad person, and followed the Master’s orders. Kreacher apparated to Hogwarts kitchen, where Kreacher joined other house elves, and worked in the kitchen until the battle with the Dark Lord.”

“You did really well then, thank you.

Kreacher, do you know what was going on in the school during the year? I mean, did you get outside of the kitchen at all?”

“Kreacher stayed mostly in the kitchen. Master told him not to be caught. So, Kreacher did not see much anything unexpected. Kreacher only noticed that Dobby was leaving kitchens from time to time even in the middle of his work and returned back without saying a word, but Dobby seemed completely exhausted.” 2

“Kreacher, do you know how students lived during that year?”

“Very little, Kreacher tried to keep himself in kitchens. However, one day, Kreacher was ordered to clean the Gryffindor rooms; he found a bundle of pieces of cloth soaked with dried blood. It was hidden under a bed and it seemed somebody used it as bandages.”

Kreacher’s face then turned really white … he was hesitant to continue.

“Kreacher, what is it? Speak up!”

“Well, Master, it was a _girls’_ bedroom, which was even more strange to Kreacher. Why Kreacher’s young Mistresses should be bloodied?

However, Kreacher was ordered to make sure that after leaving all was clean and tidy. So Kreacher decided to understand this order to mean to take away all the bloody pieces of the cloth and bring out of the storage new bedding. Actually, Kreacher might have made a mistake then because he brought twice as much bedding as needed.”

“Good job, Kreacher! That was really smart!”

But Kreacher’s face was still a light shade of grey and he was trembling a bit.

“Could Kreacher ask Master to order him to continue? Could Master threaten him with a punishment?”

His eyes were clearly pleading.

“OK, Kreacher, I order you to continue and I’ll beat you senseless if you disobey this order.”

Kreacher’s face lightened up, familiarity of fear from punishment making it easier for him to continue.

“Well, Master, on that bed lied a bunch of Quidditch gear. And Master’s Miss Ginny was the only girl in that dormitory who played Quidditch.”

He was not sure how will Harry take this piece of information.

“I know, Kreacher, she told me. Actually, it was a very good thing you did. Because soon after that Carrows searched through her dormitory, and it would have been very bad for her if those bandages were found. She never understood who saved her.

However, she was saved by you only this one time. And there were [other times](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10663953). There were many other times, when she or her friends were tortured, harmed, beaten, cursed, or where they stood to the way of the flying curse so it wouldn’t hit somebody younger. Yes, there were even some students who did not make it from their wounds. And some girls were even …”

He was silent for a minute before he caught his breath again.

“Kreacher, when she told me all that, it was really sad for me. I am persuaded that although everybody celebrates me as The Savior of the Wizarding World, those who stayed in Hogwarts that year had it a way harder and they were way more brave than me and my friends on the run.”

“My new Mistress Ginny is a very brave lady. Kreacher will be proud to serve such a noble lady.”

“I completely agree with you, Kreacher, she is.”

* * *

“You see, Kreacher, and that is what I wanted to talk with you about. I was helped in my defeating Voldemort by a Muggleborn witch, a wizard from family your old Mistress Walburga would consider the most blood-traitorous family in England. His sister, my future wife, was fighting and suffering in Hogwarts during what they call now The Year of Terror. You and Dobby were house elves, and you were a great leader of the Hogwarts house elves in The Battle of Hogwarts, and I am afraid your late Mistress would have never considered it possible for you to be so brave. All these and many other people and house elves were laying down their lives for their friends, and many of them actually lost them.

Betelgeuse Black got his title of nobility and the family motto itself for helping Muggles to survive.

I believe that my great-grandfather Henry Potter was more pure in his intent and closer to the House of Black family motto, when he in the 1920s fought for the rights of Muggles and Muggleborns, than Cygnus Black himself who threatened to let him be kicked out from Wizengamot because of it.

So, yes I would be proud to be the head of The House of Black with this family motto, although I believe last couple of generations of Blacks got its meaning completely wrong.”

Something in his voice got Kreacher interested.

“Master Harry said he ‘would be’ proud? Kreacher does not understand.”

“Oh yes, Kreacher, that is the other thing I wanted to talk about with you. You see, I am not only the heir of The House of Black, but I am also the last head of The Ancient and Chivalrous House of Potter. I will continue to hold that title, so I am going to announce at my wedding the final end of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. I am afraid that I have to tell you are the last majordomos of The House of Black, and from the time of our marriage, you will be after many hundreds of years, the first majordomos of The House of Potter.”

“Kreacher will be very honoured to serve my very noble and chivalrous Master Harry and his very noble and brave Mistress Ginerva.”

1
    

Bible, John 15:13 ESV.

2
    

Dobby was [helping](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4236594/) the clandestine Dumbledore Army by apparating wounded students to the Hospital Wing and helping in other ways. Most likely he didn’t tell any other elf about it, so Kreacher probably did not know what exactly Dobby was doing.


End file.
